Vallejo woman's story lands in latest 'Chicken Soup' book

It was a decade ago, but Diane Gardner's memory didn't have to be shaken like a Florida tree during a hurricane.

Her love for her husband was not going to fade, especially after his devotion to his wife during life-or-death times when she faced mortality with an illness that left her drained.

So the Vallejo woman sat down, wrote "That Was Love," and submitted it to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Wives."

"It fit what they were talking about,"

Gardner said.

If rejected? No big deal, said Gardner, herself an editor for a publishing company.

"I'd be all right," she said. "It was a benefit for me to think through and I think a nice thing to do for myself and to tell him how much he meant to me and some things about love that I leaned from him."

Her submission, however, made the cut. And Gardner was one of 101 "daily devotions to comfort, encourage and inspire you."

Excited? Sure. But it's not the first rodeo clown she's laughed at. Gardner was published in the Chicken Soup series twice for thoughts about her grandmother and for her mother.

"I've always loved the idea of heartwarming true stories," Gardner said. "When I found out that you could submit with thousands of other people, I thought I'd try and get a story in."

The third time was slightly more intimate as Gardner suffered from the symptoms of Crohn's Disease plus her feelings about her husband.

"It was a little bit more of a risk to put myself out there," she said. "There were times when I thought hard about it, times I wasn't sure if I wanted to submit it and whether I wanted to back out when it was accepted. I realized that everyone has very real things that happen in their lives."

It's about getting through the tough times, Gardner added, "and that's often how we learn the greatest lessons."

So she allowed herself "to being a little bit vulnerable and to share something so personal and to allow other women to realize they're not alone in some of the struggles."

Gardner hopes her contribution is as inspiring to others as other authors were to her.

"I thought that it would be good to encourage," she said, while sharing her strong faith "that contributes a lot to the strength of my

marriage."

Gardner's husband -- she preferred to keep his name and place of work in Fairfield anonymous -- wasn't surprised by the story.

"I always get anyone's permission before I send it off if they're in it," Gardner said. "He was touched. When it was accepted, he told me how wonderful he thought it was and how proud he was of me."

Gardner hopes those who read her piece "realize we often show love in ways that we miss as spouses, that sometimes one person's way of showing love may not be the other person's way. We may miss what they're doing, that they're saying they love you."

Also, she added, "that we can do little things that speak love to the other person if we pay attention to what they find to be loving to them, whether it's words or actions or gifts or whatever it maybe be that makes a difference

to them."

It's always good to recognize actions of love especially "in midst of all the chaos and craziness of life," Gardner said.

Gardner said her husband went far beyond the call of duty when she was ill with dying a distinct possibility. Surgery saved her and medicine keeps her "on track."

A decade later, she still stops and smells the flowers, the coffee, heck, anything that

smells good.

"I think you do appreciate the little things more when you've gone through a storm in your life like that," Gardner said. "Being able to realize that sometimes the little things don't matter as much."

Though Chicken Soup's "Devotional Stories for Wives" has been out three weeks, Gardner's refraining from telling the rest of her family about her latest published effort "because I'm going to give it as a Christmas gift."